"A deal?" William asked but the trial creator didn't seem to hear him.
You've already proven your combat power, but there's more to being my Disciple than just the ability to punch artificial Magical Beasts. This time, you will be tested by your creativity.
"My creativity?" William's questions multiplied, while the answers were few.
Prepare yourself for the Alternate Trials.
William didn't have any time for the so-called preparation as time and space stretched and tore, his body seemingly dissolved into millions of tiny particles and pulled into a portal the size of a pinhole.
William's vision turned black for a split second before his body was reformed. He was standing in the exact same room as before, with the snow hill in front and the now-broken doorway behind.
-Entered an Illusory Realm: +500 PP
The trials begin...now!
The moment the trial creator spoke the last word, the snow hill moved. A pair of eyes opened from within the snow, and a head poked out. The snow hill shifted and transformed into a giant snowy creature with yellow teeth and fierce eyes as it released a roar that sent William flying into the back wall. Thɪs chapter is updated by N0velFire.ɴet
That's why the radar didn't see it, it WAS the Magical Beast! William exclaimed. He didn't know what it meant to be in an illusory Realm, but he could at least tell that the snowy giant would kill him for sure if he allowed it to happen.
With William's Cultivation Talent at S-Rank, he realized he could sense the Cultivation of Magical Beasts and Cultivators as long as they weren't concealing it.
The snowy giant in front of him emitted a strength at the peak of the Soul Formation Realm, which was incredibly terrifying considering William's current strength.
"What the fuck is this! I thought it would only be in the Core Formation Realm!" William was basing the information off the previous trial tower. What he didn't know is that the trial creator changed the Cultivation of the snowy giant specifically because William was the one in the trial tower.
He said he was testing my creativity, but this is a fight. What does he mean, System?
-Request requires 10 Potential Points. Yes/No?
Yes! It's way better than dying here.
-The Host is in an Illusory Realm, where the Host can spend his mental energy to manipulate the environment or even the opponents he is facing.
-With your current Mind Talent at SS-Rank, the Host could even instantly remove the Snow Giant from the trial tower, but that would expend a lot of mental energy.
That makes sense now. William had never seen or heard of anything before, but he understood the idea. In that case...I need to kill this thing without tiring myself out?
The Snow Giant was moving already, so William didn't have much time to think. First, he willed the Snow Giant to move slower, reducing its speed to the Nascent Soul Realm so he could dodge.
William tried to call the Mana to blast fire at the Snow Giant, but instead of using Mana it spent his mental energy. He didn't waste this mental energy, willing the fireball to grow larger since it was already in the air.
The Snow Giant tried to dodge the fireball, but William willed it to change direction and follow the Snow Giant until it had caught up. The Giant's fur caught fire but didn't have much effect, so William imagined the Snow Giant losing half of the muscle in its body.
Not only did the fire suddenly ravage the Snow Giant's body, but its sudden loss of strength forced the Giant to the ground. Within seconds, the Snow Giant was dead and William had completed the trial.
No pedestal rose from the ground, probably because he wasn't in the real world. He tried to use mental energy and conjure a treasure to appear, but it didn't work. It seemed that clearing a floor would instantly render his mental power useless until he went up the stairs.
William didn't think much of it and walked up the stairs to the second floor, where a hawk the size of a semi-truck was waiting for him in the air.
Its Cultivation was also at the peak of the Soul Formation Realm, but William wasn't scared anymore after he had thrashed the Snow Giant.
Ha, so much for a challenge!
William had spent a decent amount of mental energy on the last floor, so he did his best to limit the expenditure this time around.
The hawk spat Wind Blades from its mouth at William, but he imagined himself being a few feet away from where they would land, then he removed the secondary feathers from the hawk's wings, forcing it to fall from the sky.
Without its ability to fly, William would have no trouble finishing off the hawk, but he didn't do so just yet. He willed the hawk to lose its beak so it could no longer use Wind Magic, then sat down to rest and restore some mental energy.
Since he could only affect himself and the opponents when on an active floor, William found it would be best to clear the trials in this way.
The hawk got up from the ground to walk towards William, but he imagined it losing a leg, rendering the hawk completely defenseless. He returned his focus to restoring mental energy.
William remained for an hour, until his mental energy was completely restored.
Now it's time for the fun part! I bet the creator won't expect this!
William smirked as he imagined himself becoming stronger. His muscles stretched and bulged, expanding under his clothing until he felt they were about to burst. The physical change wasn't necessary, but William thought it would be funny.
He then focused on his speed and reaction time, improving all of them until he was at a perceived Tribulation Transcendence Realm, which was a Realm higher than the Soul Formation Realm.
William tried to use mental energy to increase his mental energy capacity, but that loophole didn't seem to work.
His defenses were next. William didn't know what to think about this time, so he just imagined his Hard Skin Talent being improved even further, compressing and multiplying until his skin was strong enough to survive even the Five Elements Explosion Array that he had used against the Lesser Demon.
That should about do it. William thought with tired eyes as his mental energy had been completely expended.
He took eight hours to rest his mind while the hawk remained still. It could have attacked William by crawling over with the use of its wings and single leg, but the hawk no longer dared to do so since William was emitting a pressure superior to its own.
After restoring his mental energy the second time, William killed the hawk and traveled up the staircase to the next floor.
The trial creator, who was sitting in a secluded room underneath the Gravitas Ruins and looking at a crystal ball, currently had a look of complete surprise on his face as he watched William clear floor after floor of the illusory trial tower.
How is his mental strength so strong that he can improve his own abilities?!?